Celestyal Experience

[travelingman]

Anyone have any information to share on this ship's physically - restaurants, lounges, cabins, etc?  I know it will be based on when it was part of Costa.  But since Celestyal states they are not changing anything except the name, logos, etc. I figure there should not be any differences in the physical aspects.  Any positives or negatives on the physical layouts, etc?  Thanks.

 

Stan

[saltshell]

Stan, check out previous costa site. Info and pics are there.

[travelingman]

16 hours ago, saltshell said:

Stan, check out previous costa site. Info and pics are there.

 

Good idea; but when I had checked the Costa site and Costa roll calls it looks like the Neomantica has been deleted.  Only saw a note that the Neoromantica had been sold.

 

Stan

[saltshell]

Stan, try googling "costa neoromantica deck plan" should come up with a couple of results. Good Luck.

[tony s]

Does anyone know which restaurants will charge extra,specifically interested in the brick oven pizzq

[travelingman]

1 hour ago, tony s said:

Does anyone know which restaurants will charge extra,specifically interested in the brick oven pizza

 

Have not seen any information on it.  Have been looking for which ones will.  Going to keep looking but if nothing comes up before my Nov. 2021 cruise I will call Celestyal.

 

Stan

[saltshell]

Black Friday sale. Check with you agent; could be eligible for a price drop or upgrade. 

[foodsvcmgr]

I spoke to Celestyal today and was disappointed to be informed that the Black Friday rates require prepayment in full, certainly not something I was ready to do in view of the pandemic.

They do however currently have a $199 per cabin deposit, and the total fare paying at the normal payment date was only $300 higher per cabin.

I was checking a 3 Continents itinerary for November/December of 2022.

[saltshell]

Lucked out, only $21 to pay off cruise. Pretty confident that we will cruise next November. 

[travelingman]

Hello everyone.

I was looking at the Celestyal website a several days ago to see if anything new was posted on it.  Just for the heck of it I looked at the Nov. 13, 2021 "Steps of St. Paul" and the Nov. 20, 2021 "3 Continent" cruise and to my surprise I noticed it looked like the cruise ship had changed back to the Crystal.  I emailed my TA last Friday afternoon who contacted Celestyal yesterday and sure enough they have gone back to the Crystal.  Wasn't given a reason and I didn't ask for one.  So, back on the original ship (Crystal) booked.  Negative is that on the Experience and being in a Suite there was some additional perks included that are not on the Crystal.  One of those things that once you are given something you don't like giving them up even though you didn't pay for them originally.

Now we wait to see if anything else changes and if we will actually be able to sail.

 

Stan

Edited March 16, 2021 by travelingman
Grammar correction

[foodsvcmgr]

Celestyal’s official reasoning for returning Crystal to service is that they wanted to start out with a smaller ship.

They say to test their protocols, etc. but I’m sure they also want to tailor the capacity and operating costs to less demand initially.

[saltshell]

Curious about room assignment changes.

[travelingman]

My guess is that because there were move cabins in each category on the Experience than the Crystal they cannot give everyone the same cabin category again when downsizing the ship size.  If there are.20 SB cabins on the Experience and 10 on the Crystal something has to give/

 

Stan

[saltshell]

Spoke with Celestyal today and the move to Crystal confirmed.  They re-sent cruise documents since I'd paid in full. When asked about upgrade/ upsell was informed that the ship was booked at capacity. 

[saltshell]

Note: Just printed e-ticket. States mandatory covid insurance. Anyone have input on access to purchase, info etc.?

[travelingman]

Will have to check with Trip Insurance Store to see if they know any companies offering it yet.

 

Stan

[saltshell]

Another hitch. Took it for granted that the ship would port in Piraous. Wrong. We are departing/arriving Larion. Researching transportation options from Athens.

[travelingman]

Saw this in my research: "

New, dedicated terminal

Celestyal will operate from a new, dedicated terminal at Lavrion, which it said will provide an enhanced and expedited embarkation and disembarkation. This terminal will enable the thorough implementation of comprehensive and enhanced health protocols, while ensuring the short cruises operate in a timely manner.

'In keeping with Celestyal’s aspiration of providing more immersive experiences, Lavrion is a historic, small Greek town on the outskirts of the greater Athens area and just a 10-minute drive from the world renowned site of the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion,' said Leslie Peden, chief commercial officer, Celestyal.

'The port and city of Lavrion is definitely one more interesting destination worth discovering,' he added. 'We hope that having to move the start of our scheduled season doesn’t inconvenience our guests too much. Our top priority is always the well-being of our guests, and we want to ensure that they receive our award-winning Celestyal experience, visiting all the unique destinations we call upon in the region.'"

_____________________________________________

Lavrio (Larion) is a bit further away than Piraeus.  Looks like 3 options - bus/ taxi, subway/taxi, taxi..  These are listed in order of cost.  Taxi is quickest with bus the longest time-wise.  See https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Athens/Lavrio-Port.
For info on the port itself try this site - https://www.davestravelpages.com/lavrio-port-athens/.  Not sure how old the info is.

 

Stan

 

[saltshell]

Thanks Stan. Taxi will cost approximately  $60 from Athens. I will be in Lavron twice on 14 day. Plan to go to airport on Ship departure. Perhaps taxi share might work for a leg or two. Will figure out logistics closer to the cruise. Admit a little disappointed to miss Piraous,  much better transportation.

[foodsvcmgr]

Has anyone gotten word of when Experience will actually enter service?

[deniseatnycs]

Hi 

It seems that there is little information coming out about this ship or any of its future sailings.

The only things I have seen is an Agent and I think the CEO of Celestyal  taking about the Experience and also several walk through tours abeit on the Costa NeoRomanticia.

We are booked on the 7 night from Athens on the 21st May 2022 and looking forward to seeing some posts about the ship before then.  We usually sail NCL or MSC so a bit of a difference for us not having the forums to gather knowledge  from.

 

Denise

[foodsvcmgr]

Finally spoke to a Celestyal rep who confirmed that Experience will not begin operations until 2022.

Also they expect 2023 schedule to be released in next few weeks.

[odie1024]

Any idea if the MDR is assigned seating and if so the times. 

 

[Wiggster]

Hi thanks for the info concerning the change of ship from the Experience to Crystal and port from Piraeus to Lavrion/Lavrio (same place). I was due to go on the Experience in October (this year gulp) but I can see from the Celestyal page that this is now indeed the Crystal.

 

Apparently Lavrio is actually closer to Athens airport then Piraeus and you can get a local KTEL bus (10 or 11) for 4 euros each way... departing every hour.. my intention would be to walk to the port from the Bus Station which is apparently about 3 miles... (yes I need the walk so I can have a big dinner 🙂 )